A2 MEDIA Research and planning

1. A2 MEDIA Research and planning George Barr

2. What media task have you chosen?Who is your target audience?Are you working on your own or in a group? At the beginning of the year we were given the choice whether to film a short film or a music video for our year 13 coursework. We chose to film a music video over a short film because we are each passionate about music and because the three of us are in a band and write our own music it was easy to get a song that we wanted to film a video for. We chose to work in a group of three because this way we had enough people to operate the equipment plus we could each have a role in the video so we didn’t have to get actors for the piece. The target audience that we decided we wanted our work to appeal to was 16-30 year olds. We chose to appeal to this age group for many reasons. The main reason why we chose this age group is because the three of us are in the age group ourselves and know what the target audience want because of the styles of music that are within society at this present time. While considering the age group we wanted to appeal to we had to think about what younger and older generations would think to the style and whether or not they would understand and enjoy the music.

3. What were your intentions for the project? Our intentions for our music video are to incorporate a narrative but we also want to create a strange video that will intrigue audiences. While considering our intentions for the piece we referred back to the music and considered what strange things we could incorporate that would make the video look weird. We decided to incorporate the idea of using people wearing animal heads, this idea was developed through research into similar products but also we wanted to create a piece that would make our target audience watch the video and while find it very different to anything they would have seen before we wanted them to see how the video develops through the music and how the story pans out at the end. Our intentions are also to create a CD cover and magazine advert that relates to the video and appeals to our target audience. The main reason for our intentions was to show audiences that music in society can be a lot different and can incorporate a strange narrative that can still be understood and make sense. We also want people who aren’t into the style of music to enjoy it and start listening to more experimental bands.

4. Who was your target audience? The target audience that we decided on for our piece was 16-30 year olds. We carried out research into various aspects of media which included costume, props, setting and location. We chose to research into these media areas because by doing this we were able to create a music video that would appeal to the age band we were looking at. Firstly we researched into costume, we found this area fairly simple to come across because as we are in the target audience ourselves we were aware of what clothes/costumes are accepted in society for 16-30 year olds. We chose to have the three animals dressed in black and the main character dressed in black and white. We chose to dress the main character in this way to portray the idea of conforming and how it is a massive part of a young persons lives between the ages of 16 and 30. The reason why we chose the different colours were so that our target audience are able to distinguish that he is not one of them but also we wanted to show through the video how he changes and becomes one of them which relates to a young person growing and developing into an adult.

5. Costume…. While deciding on our target audience we also had to consider whether the animal heads that we had chosen would have been suitable for a younger or older audience. The heads that we chosen each look evil and sinister the way the eyes are and how they show no emotion is portrayed from looking at them. We narrowed our audience down to 16-30 for the following reasons. Firstly we decided that anyone younger than 16 could find the animal heads disturbing because they look quite real with the realistic hair etc. We chose 16 because even if the audience found the heads disturbing they would still be able to view the video and understand what is happening. Whereas we agreed that anyone over the age of 30 could maybe find the animal heads immature and unnecessary. The hair on the animals makes them look a lot more realistic and again some younger audience could find them distressing. Eyes on each animal look realistic and could be portrayed as being frightening to a younger audience. All animals facial expressions are very realistic and younger audiences could think they are real.

6. Planning... Costume: While deciding on costume we knew that we wanted to keep it simple but we wanted the audience to notice the difference between the three animals and the young man. After deliberating what kind of costumes each character should be dressed in we came to the conclusion that the three animals should be dressed in nothing but black and the young man should be dressed in black and white. We chose to dress the characters this way because we wanted it to be obvious to the audience that the young man didn't belong there. Another reason why this costume was chosen for our music video was because we wanted to incorporate the idea of conforming and the change a young person goes through to become an adult. By dressing the characters in this way I believe we will capture the idea well because it is obvious that he is different. As a group we decided that in the final scene when he conforms into one of them it was relevant for him to be wearing an item of clothing that the audience would recognise throughout. We came to the conclusion that he should still be wearing a white t-shirt so that the audience are aware that its him but he should be wearing the animal head and this shows the change. Main character: White T-shirt, Black Trousers/Joggers, Black trainers Animal 1 (Panda): Black T-shirt, Black Joggers, Black Plimsolls, Panda Head Animal 2 (Wild Boar): Black hoody, Black Joggers, Black Plimsolls, Wild Boar Head Animal 3 (Pig): Black Hoody, Black trousers, Black Plimsolls, Pig Head

7. What inspired you? How? As a band we always wanted to create strange videos for our music, because the way our songs don’t necessarily have a meaning we wanted to create a video that would relate with the music and even though there would be a story line it would be strange and fit with the music that we write. Individually we are all into the same music and each enjoy music from the same bands. Our main inspiration for writing music comes from bands such as The Coral, Sonic Youth, The Beatles and the Silver Apples. And most bands that we listen to have strange videos to go with their songs. For our music video we want to concentrate on two of our favourite music videos for inspiration. The first video that inspires us is ‘Skeleton key’ by The Coral and the second ‘Blinded by the lights’ by The Streets. We chose to focus mainly on these two videos because they incorporate the ideas we wanted to include, one being the idea of using animal heads to portray a strange image on screen for the audience, and the idea of having a good narrative throughout. Print screen from The Corals video ‘Skeleton key’. As you can see the drummer is wearing a gorilla mask while playing his instrument. This inspired us to incorporate animal heads into our piece.

8. Did you notice similarities in music videos of certain genres? Throughout the research process into music videos we noticed similarities of certain genres. We found that indie music videos incorporated mainly performance in the videos and few had a narrative. We found this common in bands such as Arctic Monkeys and The Enemy. We also found that in the genre of hip-hop/rap a storyline was most common in the music videos. Artists such as The Streets and Eminem feature mainly narratives in their music videos as do a lot more artists in this genre. A narrative was also most common in bands such as Radiohead and YeahYeahYeahs. As a band we always decided that we wanted our music to consist of a storyline and if some performance only a section of the song would feature it. We focused mainly on a good narrative for our music video but we did incorporate performance and abstract video styles.

9. ‘Hiding in the trees’ The song that we used for our music video was written by ourselves (The Skellion Gang) and is called ‘Hiding in the trees’. As a band the genre we base our music style on is physcadelic/punk/experimental. ‘Hiding in the trees’ is a strange song that was written by ourselves, we chose to write the song in a strange style because we wanted a song that when listened to by audiences didn’t relatively make sense in the way it is structured, how the lyrics are worded and how the melody flows throughout. The lyrics to the song are self explanatory from the name of the song. They are based on someone being lost and not being able to escape the woods he is trapped in. The lyrics don’t necessarily have a meaning and this was our aim to create a strange song. Lyrics The song escalates throughout and the story follows, in the first verse we can see he's in the trees, the pre chorus we can see that he's waiting for help, so immediately the audience are aware he's not safe. The second verse he starts to get paranoid as the animals play with his mind. ‘when will they find me’ ‘they're right behind me’ audience are aware he's not alone. Hiding in the trees Crouching on my knees Hiding in the trees Crouching ion my knees Waiting for a girl to come And rescue me from disaster Hiding in the trees When will they find me Crouching on my knees They’re right behind me Verse Key change/pre chorus Verse 2

10. What videos did you analyse? For inspiration on our music video we chose two videos that each incorporated features that we liked and wanted to use. We then each had a video to analyse and explain what features we wanted to incorporate into our video. The two videos were The Coral ‘Skeleton key’ and The Streets ‘Blinded by the Lights’. I analysed The Corals video explaining what features I liked and what I thought we should include in our video. The main feature I wanted to incorporate was the idea of using animal heads to give the strange image that we wanted to portray. Another aspect of the video that I liked was the way that the band are seen playing there instruments at certain parts of the song. I decided that we should include some performance in the video so that our audience wouldn’t get bored of the video just being a narrative throughout. Also the video incorporates trippy video effects at some areas, I wanted to incorporate similar effects in our video to create the strange story we wanted to portray. Our second video ‘Blinded by the Lights’ features a good story throughout and this is where we gained our inspiration from to incorporate a narrative into our video. The narrative describes him finding out about his girlfriend cheating on him with his best friend. Through taking drugs the camera becomes blurred and distorted to show what he is going through while on the drugs.

11. The Coral ‘Skeleton key’ The video to The Corals single ‘Skeleton key’ incorporates camera techniques, costumes and a range of editing techniques which give the weird trippy look which relates to the music. Here are a few aspects of the music video which while watching we took inspiration from in order to create our music video. • Firstly the costumes used in the video are simple and we wanted to use the same sort of costume in our video. Just simple clothes for the characters. • The idea to use animal heads in the video was first thought of after seeing the video. A monkey head is worn by the drummer at parts of the song (mainly in performance parts) • The idea of incorporating performance in the piece was inspired by the video. We chose to incorporate performance into our video so there wasn’t just a narrative that could get boring. The coral incorporate a narrative in there video but also incorporate performance and this is where our idea was inspired from. • Various editing techniques are used throughout our video such as the speeding up of clips and blurs which give the trippy look we wanted to achieve. The Coral’s video inspired us to incorporate strange edits into our piece. • The idea to make our bridge trippy was inspired by ‘Skeleton key’ video, in The Coral’s video they run into a room where they are confronted by ghost like figures of themselves performing on stage. We chose to incorporate the idea of performance on our bridge because we wanted this to be the penultimate moment where the music takes over the young man, and this was inspired by The Coral’s video. Above I have explained which aspects of the video inspired us and how we changed them into our own ideas and incorporated them into our video. Skeleton Key Video

12. The Streets ‘ Blinded by the lights’ The second video that we gained inspiration from was ‘Blinded by the lights’ by The Streets. The music is a completely different genre to that of ours but the narrative throughout inspired us to incorporate a good storyline into our video. The videos narrative features Mike Skinner who acts as the main character and follows him through the night of a party. While there he is confronted with his girlfriend having an affair with his best mate and is also taking drugs throughout the night. The narrative shows how the drugs take over him through the night and various techniques used throughout inspired us when writing our narrative. Here are a few points we liked from the video. • The video follows the main character through the story, showing what he ins confronted with throughout the night. We liked this idea so decided to follow our main character, showing his experiences while being stalked by these animals in the woods. We also chose to incorporate this idea as it gives the audience a real insight into what the main character is going through. • Another aspect of the video we liked was how the video told a story from the song, when he say’s what he is thinking it happens in the video, and we believed this idea to be clever. • We also liked how the video shows how he is being taken over by the drugs, instead of drugs we decided to have our main character taken over by animals that stalk him through the woods. Blinded by The Lights Video

13. Planning our ideas To begin with the lyrics were printed, we thought of loads of possible ideas for the video but came up with our final idea after a couple of lessons researching into music videos. We decided that the whole thing needed to be scripted therefore lessons on scripting were vital so we were able to get the timings for scenes. After listening to the music various times we were able to decide where we thought scenes should be placed in the video. We created this plan by going through the lyrics and writing down which scene should come at a specific point. After completing our script we decided that we should take it out on filming days as a guide for filming each scene. By doing this it will give us the opportunity to plan each day we go and what we will film while there. The timings for each section of the song are precise and this will help us know how long we had to keep the camera running for each scene. Also by creating the script we got the full running time of the video due to knowing the length of the song.

14. Planning Once the script was completed we chose to storyboard each scene of the video and this was done in order to get ideas for camera shots that we wanted to incorporate. We knew how we wanted the story to go so it was just a case of putting down what camera shots we wanted to use at specific points. Through doing this it will make it a lot easier while out filming as we were able to look back on it and see which scenes came where and what shots we wanted. Various mind maps were completed to determine what props and costumes are needed so we know what to take out with us each filming day. Location We then needed a location to film at, the location had to be near for easy access but also had to have space to park the car and as we didn't have the correct equipment to film from high angles we had to find a location with different levels to film from. We then found where we wanted to film. The location we finally decided on was ‘Corley Rocks’ which can be found on the outskirts of Bedworth. Before making our final decision on this location we went out to look around and take practice shots with a digital camera, while there we discovered a rock face that had different levels we could film from, plenty of trees to film in and also a field to the top of the rocks where we wanted to film the final scene where the animals run off and disappear. Although the location had everything we needed for our video there was also things that could have gone wrong, firstly the location was surrounded by a road and this meant that any shot could have been ruined by a car driving by. We might be faced with cars driving past but we should manage to work around it. Another problem we could face is the weather, because our video is set outdoors we can only go when the weather is relatively the same each time. Because of the season we are doing the project in is winter the weather will be very unpredictable. Weather conditions that we could be faced with are rain and snow. Although the weather will be unpredictable I believe we will be able to work around it.

15. Planning Characters: While going through the planning process we had to decide on which characters we wanted in the music video. We have came to the conclusion to only have four characters in the piece, the three animals and the young man who is chased. We have chose to only have four because it will make it a lot easier to access the location as we will only need one car. Another reason why we have chose to only have four characters is that we have enough of us to operate the equipment. Once we had decided on the characters we then had to find actors for the piece. We decided that the three of us would act as the animals in the video. We chose to act these roles ourselves as we would all be on set every time we filmed, we were each in the band and therefore knew how we wanted the video to look, we each know how to operate the instruments and we are able to go out and film in free lessons and out of school together. After deciding that we would play the roles of the three animals we had to find someone who could play the role of the young man who gets stalked through the woods. We have chose to use a member out of our drama group for the role of the young man. We have decided to have Aaron play the main role as he has a professional attitude towards acting and we know that he would give the music video the look we want.

16. CD Cover Research

17. There is a person with a bear head on in the background of the cover, the bear isn’t the main focus of the artwork, but it is clever as the reader has to look closely to spot it. I am going to use animals on my CD covers to show the link to the video. CD COVER 1, THE CORAL Trees also used in the CD cover, they stand out on the purple background, they’ve been used again to show the content of the music which is very strange and trippy, I want to incorporate my main image in trees also, because the video is set in the woods. The actual image itself looks as if it has been drawn, its been done to give the cartoon kind of finish to the cover. The Corals famous font seen on all album covers, white font used to stand out over the other colours. Pinks and purple colours used to portray the physcadelic content of the CD. I want to incorporate pinks and purples in my CD covers to show the strange content of the CD. And I also believe it will portray what kind of band they are. Font for the album title again in white to stand out over colours, but a different font is used, its a lot stranger and broken and all in capitals, I want to incorporate this idea into my CD covers.

18. The image that can be seen on the back cover of the album has no real meaning but once again I believe that it gives the reader an idea of the genre of music, personally from my first impressions of the cover I knew that the style of music was going to be strange. The same colour scheme has been kept throughout. As seen on the front cover of the album a purple/pink colour has been used, the colour creates the physcadelic illusion and gives the consumer an idea to what the music sounds like, I will be including colours like this in my piece and I will also keep a colour scheme throughout my CD cover and advert to create the house style that will be seen throughout my digipak. CD COVER 1, THE CORAL (BACK) The song list is displayed on the right side of the cover rather than the conventional left side which can be found on most CD covers. The font is different to that on the front and is a solid black font displayed in capitals. I will be using a font like this for my CD cover. Again there is a cartoon look to the back as well as the front. This is in keeping with the house theme that has been kept throughout the product. I will be ensuring I keep aspects running throughout my work so it works as a digipak. To the bottom right of the album back. The barcode and record information is displayed, I will be displaying information like this to ensure my product looks as professional as possible. Band website is displayed, enables consumer to check website for tours etc

19. From the image, we as the reader are able to tell what style of music they are from the way the images are blurred and the simplicity of it. CD COVER 2 THE HORRORS Band name in capitals, album name in lower case, this has been done to show which information is the most important in this case the bands name. Very plain font has been used again to keep the eyes on the image, and in white to stand out on the black box. Dark colours used around the outside of the cover, this has been done to keep the focus on the main image, I would like to edit my images and make them darker around the edges to create focus on my main image. Has been position to the bottom left, has been to to keep main focus on the image, I want to use the same idea on my CD covers because my images will be the most important part. A simple solid black box has been used to store the important information on, this has been done to make the text stand out, so that the readers can read clearly what it says. Main focus of the cover is the image, this image has been edited and blurred so we as the viewer are unsure to who it is these people are.

20. The image of the band is them on a pier, whereas on the front cover we can see an image of a group of people sat at a table. These two images have no relation to each other and this makes me wonder what they’re trying to achieve. CD COVER 2, THE HORRORS (BACK) On the back cover of the album we can see an image that is a lot clearer than the front cover, the image still incorporates the same colours and this keeps the house style throughout the album. I might consider taking dark images as I believe it will give the audience an idea of the style of music. Typical convention seen on any album/cd cover, a bar code is displayed, it is not in a conventional place and by doing this it doesn’t distract the audiences focus off of the image Another question raised by the cover, is if the picture has any relation to the names of the songs, for example I can see water and there is a song called sea within a sea. To the bottom of the CD cover we can see the information that is displayed on any conventional album. The information is to the bottom of the cover as it is less important I will be putting the same information to the bottom of my CD cover. The band name has again been displayed on the back cover as if it is the front cover, the text used for the band name is displayed in capitals and is In a bold white font, by having the text this way it makes it easy to read. The song names are again displayed in white text but they are in lower case, this has been done to deter to information apart. I like the way that the tracks have been listed as it is different to what is normally seen on a conventional album.

21. CD COVER 3 SONIC YOUTH Font in capitals, stands out on the white border, easily read by consumer. Band name in a bold black font, has been positioned down the left and right side of the cover to keep the consumers attention on the main image to the centre of the CD cover. Left and right of the image is white, has been done to make the font stand out and act as a border to the image, I like this idea of having a border, I believe it again focus’ the attention on the image and text. Album name ‘Dirty’ to the bottom left of the cover. It has been done in a different font and colour so the consumer are still able to see it as well as everything else. Main image to the centre of the cover, this has been done as the the consumer would see the image first. I like how the image makes no sense I want to use this idea in my designs, I also like the size of the image as it draws the consumer in.

22. The same colour scheme has been kept on the back of the album as the front, this has kept the house style on the album and the same colours can also be seen in music videos for the music. I want to incorporate the same colours throughout my CD covers, Adverts and video, and I believe by doing this it will create the house style throughout my work and audiences will be able to notice my products in retail. A white background has again been used on the back cover as well as the front, this has been done again so all information is clear and easily read. It is important to make information clear on the product so that all audiences can read the displayed information, I will use colours that will keep my fonts and information easily read as I believe this will appeal to a larger range of people. CD COVER 3, SONIC YOUTH (BACK) We can see four images, the images are of the band, they have been set out in a collage sort of way, and I believe by doing this it has shown the sort of band they are. And the audience are able to make there own judgement on the band members. It is obvious what they are about. The track list has been set out differently to a conventional album. I like how the track numbers are highlighted in blue and the text itself is in black, the text is easily read and stands out well on the white background Again the typical convention of displaying a barcode is visible on the back, I will insert a barcode in order to make my CD look professional and ready for retail The record labels logo is to the bottom left corner of the piece, it is visible to audiences. I will be adding information like this on my CD.

23. CD Advert Research

24. Band name to the top of the advert large font is dominant over the background. It is easily read and matches the album name font. CD ADVERT 1 Solid black background is used on the advert, this has been done to make other information such as image and text stand out. The black could also represent the genre of music. Main focus of the advert is the picture to the centre of the page. The image is the same as the CD cover itself. I would like to use this idea because this way it would be easy to notice the product if the advert was seen in a magazine. Band name written in the main image, has been done to make it the main focus so consumers see this first. A large red font has been used again to stand out on the black background. Product description below main image. Describes what comes with the album for example DVD etc. I will include some information like this on my advert. Less important information in smaller text, not visible unless read up close. Information includes websites and product information. Date of release in large text. Has been done so readers are able to see when its released with ease.

25. Black background used, makes all information and images stand out, information is clear and easily read. Main quote at top of the page, from NME recognised magazine, customer wants to purchase. CD ADVERT 2 Quotes from different magazines, with ratings, makes the reader want to purchase because its rated high. Band name in a solid coloured font, positioned to the centre of the advert, so focus is straight away on who the band is. More information on the album below the band name, smaller white font used but is still easily read by the consumer Album named ‘20th ANNIVERSARY’ large font again used, matches the band name text. Central again as its main focus. What albums available on, same text and colour as band name Iconic image used at the bottom of the advert, has been added as its an image that is recognised by Stone Roses fans. Less important information in smaller text, includes website and album details. Recognised retailer, added so consumers are aware where to purchase the product.

26. Large white font used for the band name. displayed in capitals giving it a bolder look and making it more dominant over other information on the page. CD ADVERT 3 Solid black background. Has been used so all information is easily read and images are clearly seen. Album name in smaller text displayed below band name, still visible as its important information Background consists of an image tiled together multiple times. The images at first glance aren’t noticed but they create a strange background that looks rough and gives the consumer an idea of what the band are like. Quotes from major magazine companies, makes the consumer want to buy the album to see what the band are all about. Recognised retailers logo in bottom corner, gives impression they are a good band and also displays where the album can be purchased. Background is shaded where important information is displayed, has been done so it can be read with ease. Information on band in smaller text, displays band website so the consumer is able to see what they are like.